"This account was recently infected" removal guide

What is "This account was recently infected"?

Scammers distribute "This account was recently infected" scam by sending this email to a great number of people hoping that someone will fall for it. Their main purpose is to blackmail people by making claims about having recorded some compromising video that they will spread if they will not receive a demanded amount of cryptocurrency. There are many scams of this type, however, this one is a little bit different: it does not contain any text, but an image with a text, this method is used with a purpose to bypass spam filters.

Whoever designed this scam presents himself as a hacker who have hacked email account. This scammer claims that he installed some malicious program into recipients operating system while he was visiting some pornography website. This malware works as a remote access tool (RAT), a keylogger that is capable of monitoring user's computing activity and record videos using computer's webcam. It is stated that this program allowed to steal various passwords as well. The main point of this email is to trick people into thinking that the aforementioned RAT was used to record a video of them while they were watching some pornographic video. As scammers claim, it is a dual-screen video where a recipient and a video he is watching can be seen at the same time. They make threats that they will send this video to all recipient's contacts if they will not receive $1000 in Bitcoins, during a period of 48 hours. There is a Bitcoin wallet address provided as well. We strongly recommend to ignore this email. It is nothing but a scam that should not be trusted. In other words, none of the claims are true: a computer is not infected with any malware (or remote access tool) or email account is hacked. This email should be deleted and all similar emails received in the future should be ignored as well.

Free scanner checks if your computer is infected. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Spyhunter.

Typically, scammers use emails of this type with a purpose to extract money (cryptocurrency) from people by making various threats. Usually they claim that they have recorded some humiliating video and threaten to spread it. "Hey. It's me! Your Future Friend Or Enemy", "I Have A Forum In The Darkweb" and "Your Account Was Hacked" are just a few examples of other similar emails, there are many more. Unfortunately, cyber criminals send emails that contain malicious attachments as well. Emails of this type usually are proliferated with a purpose to infect computers with malicious programs like LokiBot, TrickBot, Emotet, AZORult, Adwind and so on. They send emails that contain web links or attachments such as Microsoft Office or PDF documents, JavaScript files, archives like ZIP, RAR, executables (.exe) files and so on. The main purpose of these emails is to trick people into opening included attachments. When opened, they download and install some high-risk computer infection. These malicious programs usually are designed to steal personal details, browsing-related information, spread other viruses and to perform other actions that could cause people financial, data loss, privacy issues and other problems.

We receive a great deal of feedback from concerned users about this scam email. Here is the most popular question we receive:

Q: Hi pcrisk.com team, I received an email stating that my computer was hacked and they have a video of me. Now they are asking for a ransom in Bitcoins. I think this must be true because they listed my real name and password in the email. What should I do?

A: Do not worry about this email. Neither hackers nor cyber criminals have infiltrated/hacked your computer and there is no video of you watching pornography. Simply ignore the message and do not send any Bitcoins. Your email, name, and password was probably stolen from a compromised website such as Yahoo (these website breaches are common). If you are concerned, you can check if your accounts have been compromised by visiting the haveibeenpwned website.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns that contain website links or attachments infect computers only when they are opened/executed. For example, if attached file is a MS Office document, it will ask for a permission to enable macros commands. In other words, to disable the "Protected View" mode. If a recipients gives a permission for that, he also allows a malicious document to download and install a particular computer infection. Similar rules apply to other types of attachments: if it is some archive file, it needs to be extracted and its contents opened/executed and so on. Basically, no attachment or link can cause computer infections if it is not opened.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We recommend to carefully analyze each received email that contains some attachment or website link. These emails usually are presented as official and legitimate but actually are irrelevant. If an email look suspicious (or/and is received from unknown address), its contents should be left unopened. Furthermore, do not download software using sources such as: Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule and so on), third party downloaders, unofficial websites and other similar sources. Most secure way to do it is using official websites (and direct links). Update installed software using only implemented functions and/or tools, not some third party (fake) updaters. Software "cracking" tools cannot be trusted as well - they are not legal and often are used by cyber criminals to spread computer infections. To keep a computer safe it is highly recommended to have a reputable anti-virus or anti-spyware software installed (and to keep it enabled at all times) too. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with
Spyhunter for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

This account was recently infected! Renew the pswd right this moment!You probably do not know me me and you really are most probably interested for what reason you are reading this particular email, right?I am a hacker who exploited your email and system several months ago.Do not waste your time and try out to msg me or alternatively seek for me, it is definitely not possible, because I forwarded you a letter using YOUR hacked account.I have developed malware software on the adult yids (porno) site and guess you have enjoyed this website to enjoy it (you realize what I mean).When you were keeping an eye on videos, your browser began operating as a RDP (Remote Control) that have a keylogger which provided me the ability to access your monitor and camera.After that, my software program acquired all data.You entered passcodes on the web services you visited, I caught all of them.Needless to say, you can change them, or already changed them.Even so it doesn't matter, my program updates information regularly.What actually I have done?I compiled a reserve copy of the device. Of all files and contact lists.I got a dual-screen movie. The 1st screen displays the film you were watching (you have an interesting preferences, wow...), the second part shows the tape from your webcam.What do you have to do?So, in my opinion, 1000 USD is a good amount of money for our little riddle. You will do the deposit by bitcoins (if you don't know this, go searching "how to buy bitcoin" in any search engine).My bitcoin wallet address:1K2ZICs6cjPmgIcKhedazUezUrMg13ME2Kik, 1LWbhU7623zZjLHTnfTRyrcqbRnXoVKaBd(It is cAsE sensitive, so just copy and paste it).Attention:You have only 48 hours to make the payment. (I have an exclusive pixel to this letter, and right now I know that you've read this email).To monitorthe reading of a message and the activity in it, I uses Facebook pixel. Thanks to them. (That which is applied for the authorities can help us.)If I do not get bitcoins, I shall certainly send your recording to each of your contacts, along with family members, co-workers, etc?

Instant automatic removal of possible malware infections:Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced computer skills. Spyhunter is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of possible malware infections. Download it by clicking the button below:▼ DOWNLOAD SpyhunterBy downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Free scanner checks if your computer is infected. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Spyhunter.

How to remove malware manually?

Manual malware removal is a complicated task, usually it's better to let antivirus or anti-malware programs do it automatically. To remove this malware we recommend using
Spyhunter for Windows. If you wish to remove malware manually, the first step is to identify the name of the malware that you are trying to remove. Here's an example of a suspicious program running on user's computer:

If you checked the list of programs running on your computer, for example using task manager and identified a program that looks suspicious you should continue with these steps:

Download a program called Autoruns. This program shows auto-start applications, Registry and file system locations:

Windows 10 users: Click the Windows logo and select the Power icon. In the opened menu click "Restart" while holding "Shift" button on your keyboard. In the "choose an option" window click on the "Troubleshoot", next select "Advanced options". In the advanced options menu select "Startup Settings" and click on the "Restart" button. In the following window you should click the "F5" button on your keyboard. This will restart your operating system in safe mode with networking.

Video showing how to start Windows 10 in "Safe Mode with Networking":

Extract the downloaded archive and run Autoruns.exe file.

In the Autoruns application click "Options" at the top and uncheck "Hide Empty Locations" and "Hide Windows Entries" options. After this procedure click the "Refresh" icon.

Check the list provided by Autoruns application and locate the malware file that you want to eliminate.

You should write down it full path and name. Note that some malware hides their process names under legitimate Windows process names. At this stage it's very important to avoid removing system files. After you locate he suspicious program you want to remove right click your mouse over it's name and choose "Delete"

After removing the malware through Autoruns application (this ensures that the malware won't run automatically on the next system startup) you should search for the malware name on your computer. Be sure to enable hidden files and folders before proceeding. If you find the file of the malware be sure to remove it.

Reboot your computer in normal mode. Following these steps should help remove any malware from your computer. Note that manual threat removal requires advanced computer skills, it's recommended to leave malware removal to antivirus and anti-malware programs. These steps might not work with advanced malware infections. As always it's better to avoid getting infected that try to remove malware afterwards. To keep your computer safe be sure to install latest operating system updates and use antivirus software.

To be sure your computer is free of malware infections we recommend scanning it with
Spyhunter for Windows.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter to stay informed about the latest online security threats.

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